DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Status
Claims 1, 5, 8, 12, 15 and 20 are amended. Claims 1-2, 5, 8-9, 12, 15-17 and 20 are pending.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
3. A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 5/7/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed on 5/27/2026 with respect to claims 1-2, 5, 8-9, 12, 15-17 and 20, have been considered but are moot in view of new grounds of rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
4. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
5. Claims 1, 5-6, 8, 12, 15 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. (US. Pub. No. 2020/0107213 A1) in view of Dao et al. (US. Pub. No. 2018/0199398 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Park discloses a method for removing at least one first user plane (UP) connection by a first wireless communication node (See Par. [191], [214], [216], [218] of Park for a reference to removing the PDU Session Anchor (PSA) UPF by the SMF 160 [Core node/First node]), comprising:
receiving a second message from a second wireless communication node (See Par. [461]-[462] and Fig. 33 of Park for a reference to the SMF 160 receives an N4 PDU session status request that includes the traffic status of the UPF), wherein the second message is a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) Session Resource Request message (See Par. [255]-[256, [461]-[462] and Fig. 33 of Park for a reference to the SMF 160 receives an N4 PDU session status request that includes the traffic status of the UPF, which is a PDU session Request message),
determining the at least one first UP connection to be removed from a plurality of UP connections (See Par. [191], [214],[370]-[371] of Park for a reference to the SMF 160 decides/determines to trigger the removal of the PDU session anchor UPF (UPF 110) from among different/plurality UPFs [See Fig. 24 for a reference to first UPF & second UPF]); and
transmitting a first message to a second wireless communication node (See Par. [237], [370], [388]-[389] of Park for a reference to the SMF 160 transmits a N4 session modification message to the first access node and UPF110 (Second Node) to request the release/removal of the first UPF), wherein the first message is a PDU Session Resource Response message (See Par. [237], [370], [388]-[389] of Park for a reference to the SMF 160 transmits a N4 session modification message to the first access node and UPF110 (Second Node) to request the release/removal of the first UPF as a response to the traffic status request received);
wherein the first message comprises at least one transport network layer (TNL) address pair (See Par. [370]-[371] of Park for a reference to the UPF comprises at least one or more uplink TNL address and/or one or more the downlink TNL address), the at least one TNL address pair comprising at least one downlink TNL (DL-TNL) address of the at least one first UP connection to be removed (See Par. [388]-[389], [397]-[398] of Park for a reference to the N4 session modification message includes the downlink transport network layer (TNL) address of the first UPF [UPF to be released]), wherein the first message further comprises information of QF on the at least one second UP connection in the plurality of UP connections (See Par. [141], [223], [271], [358] and Fig. 24 of Park for a reference to the session modification indication includes information related to the QoS flow of the PDU session, determined by the SMF 160. Based on the PDU’s QoS flow, a new intermediate UPF [Second UPF] is established to transmit packets of the PDU session).
Park does not disclose wherein the second message comprises information of service flow (QF) on at least one second UP connection to be maintained; after the receiving, determining the at least one first UP connection to be removed according to the second message comprising the information of the QF on the at least one second UP connection to be maintained, and wherein at least one QF on the first UP connection to be removed is offloaded to the second UP connection that is maintained.
However, Dao discloses wherein the second message comprises information of service flow (QF) on at least one second UP connection to be maintained (See Par. [152], [154], [308], [322], [497] and Fig. 53-56 of Dao for a reference to an NG3 tunnel of idle sessions may be removed from routing tables of the AN 204 and the UPF 212, and that the AN/UPF determine, based on session-state information [which sessions/QoS flows remain active vs. idle], which N3/NG3 user-plane tunnels to keep or remove); after the receiving, determining the at least one first UP connection to be removed according to the second message comprising the information of the QF on the at least one second UP connection to be maintained (See Par. [152], [303], [316], [331], [412] and Fig. 53-56 of Dao for a reference to the node determines which UP (tunnel) connections to remove from a plurality of UP connections, based on which flows/sessions are indicated as maintained/active. The SMF 220 may send an N4 session modification request message (5312) to the UPF 212. For the PDU sessions where the RAN 204 information is to be released. The message (5312) may indicate the release of RAN N3 connection information [RAN address and tunnel identifier for the DL UP]), and wherein the at least one QF on the first UP connection to be removed is offloaded to the second UP connection that is maintained (See Par. [204], [306], [318], [338]-[339] and Fig. 53-56 of Dao for a reference to the SMF 220 sends a N4 Session Modification Request (5312) message to the UPF 212. The message (5312) includes the (R)AN address, tunnel identifiers for the downlink user plane. The UPF 212 returns an N4 Session Modification Response (5314) message to the SMF 220 after the requested PDU sessions are switched [offloaded] or modified. The message (5314) includes tunnel identifiers for uplink traffic [maintained UP Connection]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Dao to Park. The motivation of combination is improving the system’s efficiency, by supporting multiple network slices or partitioning of resources for different network slices. Isolating the network slices from each other improves performance since one slice does not negatively affect the other slices. (Dao; Par. [101]).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Park and Dao, specifically Park discloses removing at least one DL-TNL address of the at least one first UP connection (See Par. [367], [394], [397]-[398] of Park for a reference to the response received from the UPF 110 includes the downlink TNL addresses of the first UPF. The SMF 160 requests the UPF to deallocate/remove and release the DL-TNL addresses in a message from UPF to SMF),
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Park and Dao, specifically Park discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising:
prior to the determining, receiving a second message from the second wireless communication node, wherein the second message is a PDU Session Resource Request message (See Par. [461]-[462] and Fig. 33 of Park for a reference to the SMF 160 receives an N4 PDU session status request that includes the traffic status of the UPF), and wherein the first message is PDU Session Resource Response message (See Par. [237], [370], [388]-[389] of Park for a reference to the SMF 160 transmits a N4 session modification message to the first access node and UPF110 (Second Node) to request the release/removal of the first UPF as a response to the traffic status request received).
Regarding claim 8, Park discloses a method for removing at least one first user plane (UP) connection by a first wireless communication node (See Par. [191], [214], [216], [218] of Park for a reference to removing the PDU Session Anchor (PSA) UPF by the SMF 160 [Core node/First node]), comprising:
transmitting a second message to a second wireless communication node (See Par. [461]-[462] and Fig. 33 of Park for a reference to the SMF 160 receives an N4 PDU session status request that includes the traffic status of the UPF), wherein the second message is a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) Session Resource Request message (See Par. [255]-[256, [461]-[462] and Fig. 33 of Park for a reference to the SMF 160 receives an N4 PDU session status request that includes the traffic status of the UPF, which is a PDU session Request message).
receiving a first message from a second wireless communication node (See Par. [237], [370], [388]-[389] of Park for a reference to the first access node and UPF110 (First Node) receives a N4 session modification message from the SMF 160 to request the release/removal of the first UPF), wherein the first message is a PDU Session Resource Response message (See Par. [237], [370], [388]-[389] of Park for a reference to the SMF 160 transmits a N4 session modification message to the first access node and UPF110 (Second Node) to request the release/removal of the first UPF as a response to the traffic status request received);
wherein the first message comprises at least one transport network layer (TNL) address pair (See Par. [370]-[371] of Park for a reference to the UPF comprises at least one or more uplink TNL address and/or one or more the downlink TNL address), the at least one TNL address pair comprising at least one downlink TNL (DL-TNL) address of the at least one first UP connection to be removed (See Par. [388]-[389], [397]-[398] of Park for a reference to the N4 session modification message includes the downlink transport network layer (TNL) address of the first UPF [UPF to be released]) from a plurality of UP connections [See Fig. 24 for a reference to first UPF & second UPF], and wherein the at least one first UP connection to be removed is determined by the second wireless communication node (See Par. [191], [214],[370]-[371] of Park for a reference to the SMF 160 decides/determines to trigger the removal of the PDU session anchor UPF (UPF 110) from among different/plurality UPFs), wherein the first message further comprises information of QF of at least one second UP connection in the plurality of UP connections (See Par. [141], [223], [271], [358] and Fig. 24 of Park for a reference to the session modification indication includes information related to the QoS flow of the PDU session, determined by the SMF 160. Based on the PDU’s QoS flow, a new intermediate UPF [Second UPF] is established to transmit packets of the PDU session).
Park does not disclose wherein the second message comprises information of service flow (QF) on at least one second UP connection to be maintained; after the receiving, determining the at least one first UP connection to be removed according to the second message comprising the information of the QF on the at least one second UP connection to be maintained, and wherein at least one QF on the first UP connection to be removed is offloaded to the second UP connection that is maintained.
However, Dao discloses wherein the second message comprises information of service flow (QF) on at least one second UP connection to be maintained (See Par. [152], [154], [308], [322], [497] and Fig. 53-56 of Dao for a reference to an NG3 tunnel of idle sessions may be removed from routing tables of the AN 204 and the UPF 212, and that the AN/UPF determine, based on session-state information [which sessions/QoS flows remain active vs. idle], which N3/NG3 user-plane tunnels to keep or remove); after the receiving, determining the at least one first UP connection to be removed according to the second message comprising the information of the QF on the at least one second UP connection to be maintained (See Par. [152], [303], [316], [331], [412] and Fig. 53-56 of Dao for a reference to the node determines which UP (tunnel) connections to remove from a plurality of UP connections, based on which flows/sessions are indicated as maintained/active. The SMF 220 may send an N4 session modification request message (5312) to the UPF 212. For the PDU sessions where the RAN 204 information is to be released. The message (5312) may indicate the release of RAN N3 connection information [RAN address and tunnel identifier for the DL UP]), and wherein the at least one QF on the first UP connection to be removed is offloaded to the second UP connection that is maintained (See Par. [204], [306], [318], [338]-[339] and Fig. 53-56 of Dao for a reference to the SMF 220 sends a N4 Session Modification Request (5312) message to the UPF 212. The message (5312) includes the (R)AN address, tunnel identifiers for the downlink user plane. The UPF 212 returns an N4 Session Modification Response (5314) message to the SMF 220 after the requested PDU sessions are switched [offloaded] or modified. The message (5314) includes tunnel identifiers for uplink traffic [maintained UP Connection]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Dao to Park. The motivation of combination is improving the system’s efficiency, by supporting multiple network slices or partitioning of resources for different network slices. Isolating the network slices from each other improves performance since one slice does not negatively affect the other slices. (Dao; Par. [101]).
Regarding claim 12, the combination of Park and Dao, specifically Park discloses the method of claim 8, further comprising:
after the receiving, removing the at least one first UP connection (See Par. [191], [214],[370]-[371] of Park for a reference to the SMF 160 decides/determines to trigger the removal of the PDU session anchor UPF (UPF 110) from among different/plurality UPFs, after receiving the session modification indication (message)); removing the at least one UL-TNL address of the at least one first UP connection (See Par. [367], [394], [397]-[398] of Park for a reference to the response received from the UPF 110 includes the uplink TNL addresses of the first UPF. The SMF 160 requests the UPF to deallocate/remove and release the DL-TNL addresses in a message from UPF to SMF); and removing the at least one DL-TNL address of the at least one first UP connection by the second wireless communication node (See Par. [367], [394], [397]-[398] of Park for a reference to the response received from the UPF 110 includes the downlink TNL addresses of the first UPF. The SMF 160 requests the UPF to deallocate/remove and release the DL-TNL addresses in a message from UPF to SMF).
Regarding claim 15, Park discloses a method for removing at least one first user plane (UP) connection by a first wireless communication node (See Par. [191], [214], [216], [218] of Park for a reference to removing the PDU Session Anchor (PSA) UPF by the SMF 160 [Core node/First node]), comprising:
receiving a first message from a second wireless communication node (See Par. [237], [370], of Park for a reference to the first access node and UPF110 (First Node) receives a N4 session modification message from the SMF 160 to request the release/removal of the first UPF); wherein the first message is a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) Session Resource Modify Request message (See Par. [237], [370], [388]-[389] of Park for a reference to the SMF 160 transmits a N4 session modification message to the first access node and UPF110 (Second Node) to request the release/removal of the first UPF as a response to the traffic status request received), wherein the first message comprises information of service flow (QF) on at least one second UP connection to be maintained (See Par. [141], [223], [271], [358] and Fig. 24 of Park for a reference to the session modification indication includes information related to the QoS flow of the PDU session, determined by the SMF 160. Based on the PDU’s QoS flow, a new intermediate UPF [Second UPF] is established to transmit packets of the PDU session); determining the at least one first UP connection to be removed from a plurality of UP connections (See Par. [191], [214],[370]-[371] of Park for a reference to the SMF 160 decides/determines to trigger the removal of the PDU session anchor UPF (UPF 110) from among different/plurality UPFs [See Fig. 24 for a reference to first UPF & second UPF]); and
transmitting a first message to a second wireless communication node (See Par. [237], [370], [388]-[389] of Park for a reference to the SMF 160 transmits a N4 session modification message to the first access node and UPF110 (Second Node) to request the release/removal of the first UPF), wherein the second message is a PDU Session Resource Modify Response message (See Par. [235]-[237] of Park for a reference to the second message is an N4 session modification response or N4 session release response message to confirm the modification [UPF removal] and the release of resources),
wherein the first message comprises at least one transport network layer (TNL) address pair (See Par. [370]-[371] of Park for a reference to the UPF comprises at least one or more uplink TNL address and/or one or more the downlink TNL address), the at least one TNL address pair comprising at least one downlink TNL (DL-TNL) address of the at least one first UP connection to be removed (See Par. [388]-[389], [397]-[398] of Park for a reference to the N4 session modification message includes the downlink transport network layer (TNL) address of the first UPF [UPF to be released]), wherein the first message further comprises information of QF on the at least one second UP connection in the plurality of UP connections (See Par. [141], [223], [271], [358] and Fig. 24 of Park for a reference to the session modification indication includes information related to the QoS flow of the PDU session, determined by the SMF 160. Based on the PDU’s QoS flow, a new intermediate UPF [Second UPF] is established to transmit packets of the PDU session).
Park does not disclose wherein the second message comprises information of service flow (QF) on at least one second UP connection to be maintained; after the receiving, determining the at least one first UP connection to be removed according to the second message comprising the information of the QF on the at least one second UP connection to be maintained, and wherein at least one QF on the first UP connection to be removed is offloaded to the second UP connection that is maintained.
However, Dao discloses wherein the second message comprises information of service flow (QF) on at least one second UP connection to be maintained (See Par. [152], [154], [308], [322], [497] and Fig. 53-56 of Dao for a reference to an NG3 tunnel of idle sessions may be removed from routing tables of the AN 204 and the UPF 212, and that the AN/UPF determine, based on session-state information [which sessions/QoS flows remain active vs. idle], which N3/NG3 user-plane tunnels to keep or remove); after the receiving, determining the at least one first UP connection to be removed according to the second message comprising the information of the QF on the at least one second UP connection to be maintained (See Par. [152], [303], [316], [331], [412] and Fig. 53-56 of Dao for a reference to the node determines which UP (tunnel) connections to remove from a plurality of UP connections, based on which flows/sessions are indicated as maintained/active. The SMF 220 may send an N4 session modification request message (5312) to the UPF 212. For the PDU sessions where the RAN 204 information is to be released. The message (5312) may indicate the release of RAN N3 connection information [RAN address and tunnel identifier for the DL UP]), and wherein the at least one QF on the first UP connection to be removed is offloaded to the second UP connection that is maintained (See Par. [204], [306], [318], [338]-[339] and Fig. 53-56 of Dao for a reference to the SMF 220 sends a N4 Session Modification Request (5312) message to the UPF 212. The message (5312) includes the (R)AN address, tunnel identifiers for the downlink user plane. The UPF 212 returns an N4 Session Modification Response (5314) message to the SMF 220 after the requested PDU sessions are switched [offloaded] or modified. The message (5314) includes tunnel identifiers for uplink traffic [maintained UP Connection]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Dao to Park. The motivation of combination is improving the system’s efficiency, by supporting multiple network slices or partitioning of resources for different network slices. Isolating the network slices from each other improves performance since one slice does not negatively affect the other slices. (Dao; Par. [101]).
Regarding claim 20, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 1, a computing device (See Park; Fig. 4; Network Node 1 (410)) comprising at least one processor (See Park; Fig. 4; Processor(s) (414)) configured to carry out the method of claim 1.
6. Claims 2, 9 and 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. in view of Dao et al. and further in view of Shi et al. (US. Pub. No. 2020/0404732 A1).
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Park and Dao does not explicitly disclose wherein the first message further comprises at least one information entity (IE), wherein the at least one IE comprises at least one Uplink/Downlink (UL/DL) TNL address pair corresponding to the at least one first UP connection, wherein the at least one UL/DL TNL address pair each comprises a UL-TNL address and a DL-TNL address.
However, Shi discloses wherein the first message further comprises at least one information entity (IE), wherein the at least one IE comprises at least one Uplink/Downlink (UL/DL) TNL address pair corresponding to the at least one first UP connection, wherein the at least one UL/DL TNL address pair each comprises a UL-TNL address and a DL-TNL address (See Par. [39], [43]-[44]) of Shi for a reference to the PDU session indication sent from the core node 210, comprises an information element [IEs], including downlink TNL paired with the existing uplink TNL, therefore each PDU session have two DL-TNL and one UL-TNL).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Shi to the combination of Park and Dao. The motivation of combination is improving the system’s efficiency, by supporting QoS mobility in the different GTP-U during dual connectivity through splitting the existing PDU session in the UPFs. (Shi; Par. [5]-[6]).
Regarding claim 9, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth
in claim 2.
Regarding claim 16, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth
in claim 2.
Regarding claim 17, the combination of Park, Dao and Shi, specifically Park discloses the method of claim 16, further comprising: after the removing, removing the at least one DL-TNL address of the at least one first UP connection (See Par. [367], [394], [397]-[398] of Park for a reference to the response received from the UPF 110 includes the downlink TNL addresses of the first UPF. The SMF 160 requests the UPF to deallocate/remove and release the DL-TNL addresses in a message from UPF to SMF).
Conclusion
7. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Bae et al. (US 2023/0217296 A1) discloses a method and apparatus for synchronizing packet duplication between base station nodes in a base station for smoothly providing a service.
Rajendran et al. (US 2022/0060901 A1) discloses a method and base station for preventing a User Equipment (UE) from attaching to a false base station.
Pan et al. (US 2020/0374948 A1) discloses a method and apparatus for serving QOS flow in a wireless communication system.
8. Any inquiry concerning this communication from the examiner should be directed to RASHA FAYED whose telephone number is (571) 270-3804. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8:00AM-4:30PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Primary Examiner, Shah M. Rahman can be reached on (571)272-8951. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/R. F./
Examiner, Art Unit 2413
/UN C CHO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2413
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